Beverage container cap with removable accessory

ABSTRACT

A beverage container cap assembly, comprising a circular cap member including a peripheral circular skirt wall, a concentric circular raised annular portion having a circular outer edge abutting and as a continuation of said skirt wall and inwardly extending therefrom, the raised annular portion defining a first plane and a circular inner edge, a circular inner wall extending perpendicularly from said circular inner edge and concentrically disposed, and further including a central portion extending perpendicularly from said inner wall at a second plane that is at a spaced apart and parallel relationship with respect to the first plane and said central portion further including a depressed channel thereon comprising at least two continuously connected sections. An elongated straw having cooperative dimensions is removably mounting inside, or at least partially inside, said depressed channel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a beverage container cap with removable accessory, and more particularly, to such accessories like straws and stirrers.

2. Description of the Related Art

Several designs for incorporating straws to a container have been designed in the past. None of them, however, shows a straw incorporated to the cover of a container nor disposed with the central position of a cover in a cooperative depressed channel to removably hold a straw, or other accessories, in place.

Applicant believes that the closest reference corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,567 issued to William A. Pugh, Sr. for a container with exteriorly mounted straw. As the title suggests, and the specification shows, the straw is exteriorly mounted to the container. This creates a number of problems in production and storage logistics. Pugh's device requires a “pull tab 60” (62 is the bottle design of FIG. 7), an overlaying tape 58 and the elements to secure the straw in place. The pull tab is required to pull the straw out since it is substantially lodged in groove 50. Col 3, lines 40-45. However, it differs from the present invention because the straw, or accessories, is removably mounted on depressed channels on the cover with cooperative dimensions to snuggly lodge the resilient straw by radially compressing the latter. The straw in the present invention includes at least one accordion type portion that permits an axial deformation of the straw to define sections of cooperative dimensions.

Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one of the main objects of the present invention to provide a cap for beverages that includes removably mounted thereto accessories namely straws and stirrers.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cap that is compatible with manual production procedures.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide such a cap that is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain while retaining its effectiveness.

Further objects of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With the above and other related objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 represents a top plan view of one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a side, partial cross-sectional, view of the container cap of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, where the present invention is generally referred to with numeral 10, it can be observed in one of the preferred embodiments that it basically includes cap assembly 20 that includes an upper side 22, underside 24 and a peripheral circular skirt wall 26. Inwardly from wall 26 is a concentric circular raised annular portion 28 extending a predetermined distance inwardly from wall 26. Portion 28 includes inner wall 29 and outer wall 29′. Inner wall 29 defines the innermost end of portion 28. Inner wall 29 is also concentrically and circularly disposed and delimits the outer circular edge 31 of central portion 32. Outer wall 29′ is concentrically and circularly disposed and extends perpendicularly from inward step 26′ of wall 26.

Central portion 32 includes continuously connected channel segments 34 with ends 34′ that coincide with different points along inner wall 29. The depth and cross-sectional configuration is such to snuggly lodge, at least partially, straw member 40. Depressed area 50 is formed adjacent to channel segments 34 so that a user can readily remove straw member 40. The force required to remove member 40 will be sufficient to withstand their unintentional dislodgement during transportation or manipulation of cover 10.

The foregoing description conveys the best understanding of the objectives and advantages of the present invention. Different embodiments may be made of the inventive concept of this invention. It is to be understood that all matter disclosed herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense. 

1. A beverage container cap assembly, comprising: A) circular cap member including a peripheral circular skirt wall, a concentric circular raised annular portion having a circular outer edge abutting and as a continuation of said skirt wall and inwardly extending therefrom, said raised annular portion defining a first plane and a circular inner edge, a circular inner wall extending perpendicularly from said circular inner edge and concentrically disposed, and further including a central portion extending perpendicularly from said inner wall at a second plane that is at a spaced apart and parallel relationship with respect to said first plane and said central portion further including a depressed channel thereon comprising at least two continuously connected sections; and B) elongated straw means having cooperative dimensions for removably mounting said straw means at least partially inside said depressed channel to keep the former in place.
 2. The cap assembly set forth in claim 1 wherein said central portion includes at least one depressed area cooperatively disposed adjacent to said channel to facilitate the removal of said straw means.
 3. The cap assembly set forth in claim 2 wherein said depressed channel comprises at least three continuously connected sections that define a polygonal shape. 